Pakistan

Immediately after 9/11, Pakistan was prompt in declaring unequivocal support to US in its war against terrorism. It expressed its complete solidarity with US in combating terrorism in all forms and, was willing to provide not only moral but also logistical support and its military bases. Details of the efforts and participation of Pakistan and the adverse effects of following this policy are given in the ensuing paragraphs:

1. Support Provided by Pakistan for OEF. Up till Oct 2002, some of the specific assistance provided by Pakistan for Operation Enduring Freedom is as follows:
   1. Provision of Air Bases / Airfields. In order to meet the requirement of US/Coalition Forces, Pakistan provided five air bases / airfields. However in emergency planes could land anywhere in Pakistan. On the average 0.4 million litres of fuel per day has been provided to US forces as well as all other services on the bases used by them. A total of 57800 sorties have been generated from Pakistan’s air space/soil.
   2. Provision of Air Corridor. In order to facilitate launching of air ops into Afghanistan, Pakistan provided 2/3 of its air space as air corridor to the US/Coalition Forces. By so doing, Pakistan had to reschedule/ redirect many of the commercial flights.
   3. Provision of Naval Facilities. Pakistan Navy provided landing facility to the US/Coalition ships at Pasni. At sea, Pakistan Navy operations/training were curtailed in order to accommodate and facilitate the operations of US/Coalition Naval Forces. According to the US Marine Corps Gazette of June 2002, the Coalition Naval Operations at Pasni were the largest amphibious operations in size, duration and depth that the Marine Corps had conducted since the Korean War. In all, 8000 Marines, 330 vehicles and over 1350 tons of equipment/logistic were off loaded at the beach and later flown to Kandhar from Pasni.
   4. Summary of US Requests. Details of request since 11 September 2001 are as follows:

      (1) Requests received 2160 (2) Action completed 2008 (3) Action in process 152

   5. Foreign Nationals Apprehended. Two of the most wanted Al-Qaida terrorists, Abu-Zubaida and Ramzi Bin Al-Shaiba, were arrested by the Pakistan’s law enforcing agencies during well planned and carefully conducted raids and handed over to US authorities. Abu Zubaida was considered Number 2 man in Al Qaida leadership thus his apprehension has given a boost to OEF. Ramzi Bin Al-Shaiba is suspected to be actually involved in the terrorist attacks of September 11. Overall details since 11 September 2001 are:

      (1) Total Raids 99 (2) Foreign National Apprehended 420 (3) Handed Over to USA 332 (4) Extradited to countries other than USA 34 (5) Released 38 (6) Under Interrogation 16

   6. ISAF. To facilitate the operations of ISAF in Afghanistan, the Karachi Airport (FMB) and Sea Port facilities along with logistic support have been extended. A MOU in this regard was signed between the Governments of UK and Pakistan. Now that the role of lead Nation has been taken over by Turkey, the same facilities / assistance are being provided to them.
2. Pakistan’s Operations along Pak-Afghan Border
   1. Measures Taken to Penetrate “Tribal Areas”. Tora Bora operations provided a window of opportunity to penetrate these areas which was capitalized by quickly moving the Army in Tirah Valley which captured 250 Al Qaida/Taliban fleeing into Pakistan. Later the Pak Army along with FC extended its operations to Miran Shah and Wana. In return, tribals have been offered a sizeable development package. The region, being remote and under developed warrants bringing it at par with rest of the country in terms of provision of basic facilities like communication infrastructure, health, education and employment opportunities. Same analogy is being followed in North Waziristan Agency/South Waziristan Agency (NWA/SWA) to prevent slipping in of Al Qaida/Taliban into our territory. In spite of ominous threat on Eastern Border, Pakistan is maintaining a sizeable portion of her strategic forces on Western Border. This clearly speaks of our resolve to support coalition operations against Al Qaida/Taliban elements.
   2. On 25 June 2002, an operation was launched against suspected Al Qaida/Taliban elements in area Azam Warsak (Wana). During this operation 2 x Al Qaida members were killed, one apprehended whereas 13 x security personnel were killed including 2 x officers. This shows Pakistan’s resolve to not only “drain the swamp” but also nab the “alligators”.
   3. Our Compulsions
      1. Shortage of manpower, technical equipment and funds.
      2. Threats of war from India due to unresolved Kashmir dispute despite UN resolutions and Indian/international commitments even after 54 years.
      3. Constitutional restraint of operations in the FATAs (Federally Administered Tribal Areas).
      4. Domestic sensitivity to allow operations within Pak territory by foreign soldiers.
      5. Cultural and religious sensitivities.
   4. Deployment of Forces
      1. Initial Deployment. Initially two Army corps along with large contingents of FC troops (para military) were deployed along Western border including some of the areas hitherto considered as no go tribal areas. A total of 60,000 regular troops and 55000 paramilitary personnel were employed on sealing of western border, internal security duties and protection of various bases being used by US / Coalition Forces. Later bulk of the regular formations was shifted towards the eastern border due to Indian Military build up. Because of very effective security arrangements ensured by Pakistan, not a single breach of security has occurred around the bases in use by Coalition Forces.
      2. Current Deployment. In spite of imminent threat of war on our Eastern border and at peril to our security Army till today continues to retain 3 x brigades size regular force along with 40 x FC Wings totalling approximately 45000 troops along Pak-Afghan Border.
   5. On Going Operations. A division (-) size force is operating along Pak-Afghan border with the purpose of eliminating suspected Al Qaida/Taliban elements and regular monitoring.
3. Effects of Operation Enduring Freedom on Economy of Pakistan. Operation Enduring Freedom adversely affected the already fragile economy of Pakistan. Major losses were caused to the civil aviation, tourism, investment and shipping due to rise in the rates of insurance. Besides this, Pakistani exports also suffered adversely and foreign investments experienced a visible decline. According to a rough estimate, Pakistan’s economy suffered a loss of over US$ 10 billion since October 2001.